The global leader in passive components, Murata Manufacturing, has announced price increases for several of its product lines. According to a customer notice cited by Taiwanese media, the Japanese firm will adjust prices for four product categories, including multilayer chip ferrite beads, multilayer ferrite power inductors, multilayer RF inductors, and multilayer common mode chokes, effective April 1, 2026.
Murata cited the sharp rise in silver prices as a core reason for the adjustment. Silver, a key raw material for the aforementioned passive components, has seen demand swell in recent years due to growth in solar installations, increased electric vehicle adoption, and accelerated investment in AI infrastructure, leading to sustained price increases that significantly pressure manufacturers' cost structures.
This move follows similar price hike announcements from other international and domestic manufacturers, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Yageo, Walsin Technology, Fenghua Advanced Technology, and San Huan. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is also set to initiate its first round of price increases in April. This indicates a coordinated pricing strategy between the world's two leading MLCC suppliers, imposing direct cost pressures on downstream buyers.
The rationale for the price increases is supported by tight supply and demand dynamics, with shipments projected to see double-digit growth in the second quarter. This is not merely a cost pass-through but is underpinned by fundamental market conditions.
Analysis from TrendForce indicates that robust demand for high-end MLCCs is being driven by the large-scale deployment of NVIDIA's GB200/300 servers and aggressive moves by major cloud service providers like AWS and Google to develop their own ASICs. Current capacity utilization rates at Murata, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Taiyo Yuden are all above 80%, with Murata holding a particular advantage due to its key materials for advanced packaging. Murata's high-end MLCC orders are forecast to grow 20% to 25% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2026, with production lines operating at full capacity.
Industry observers, cited by The Elec, predict that if Murata proceeds with the price hike, Taiwanese, mainland Chinese manufacturers, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics will likely follow suit. The institution also forecasts that, driven by strong demand, MLCC industry shipments could achieve double-digit quarter-on-quarter growth in Q2.
The structural rise in MLCC demand is closely linked to the rapid expansion of AI computing infrastructure. Data referenced by The Elec shows that a standard smartphone uses over 1,000 MLCCs, while an AI server motherboard uses ten to twenty times that number. This figure is expected to climb further as next-generation AI servers continue to evolve.
This shift in demand structure signifies that the growth focus of the MLCC market is gradually moving from consumer electronics to higher-margin data center and industrial applications, providing a more solid foundation for price increases by leading manufacturers like Murata. Taiwanese firms such as Yageo and Walsin Technology are expected to benefit from the overall upward shift in price levels and could expand their market share by capitalizing on customer order diversification.